Since the beginning of the project, the MERIL-2 consortium has performed an in-depth assessment of the content and quality of the previous MERIL portal in order to identify weaknesses and define the improvements needed. An extensive stakeholders consultation that included national authorities, research funding agencies representatives, policy makers and representatives of the RI community was conducted during the first six months in order to identify priorities and data collection strategies as well as confirm the feasibility of the planned approach within MERIL-2. As a result, a new data model, fully based on the CERIF (Common European Research Information Format) standard was designed and implemented onto a new IT portal. The data model is structured around three main modules containing core, additional and advanced information which reflect the priority and type of information addressing different stakeholder groups’ needs and taking into account the availability of such information.
The definitions and the eligibility criteria for inclusion of RIs into the MERIL database have been revised and clarified as to allow for easier assessment and check of entries. All the relevant documentation was made publicly available on the portal.
The data from the previous MERIL portal were successfully migrated onto the new IT platform and a thorough data quality check was performed, leading to the cleansing and formatting of information for over 500 Research Infrastructures entries.
In parallel, the network of National data Intermediaries (NDIs) covering 30 EU and H2020 Associated Countries was renewed and updated leading to the completion of national RI MERIL eligible lists over 50% of the countries. The collection of the input from the remaining countries is in progress.
The MERIL-2 team has established links and communications channels with a number of European and international initiatives and projects dealing with RI policy, road mapping and international collaboration ( StrESFRI, InRoad, RISCAPE, RITrain, OECD Global Science Forum, eInfraCentral, RICH, Science Europe RI Working Group, etc. ).
In the second reporting period, the portal functionalities were expanded, the data collection increaseds, and the data models populated with data, resulting in 750 published entries. Several initiatives within the RI community contacted the MERIL office in order to obtain data included in MERIL, specific analysis or engage in a collaboration, such as STFC (UKRI), the Australian Data Research Commons, EOSC-Hub, and ERRIS. Most of the enquiries concerned provision of data included in MERIL within a specific research field, support or advice in setting up a thematic database based on our experiences. A key aspect driving these collaborations was the need to reduce duplication of efforts and redundancies in RI reporting and respective data collection.
